The Rogue Smith
by CiemnyCien98
Summary: A Snowy owlet named Lent, grandson of Barran and Boron, learns his path as a Rogue Smith. After his grandparents' death, Lent decides to take his classes, more seriously, but is having conflict with Bubo's reactions. Will he become a successful Blacksmith of the Great Tree or be cast out as a Rogue Smith?
1. The Message

In the western kingdoms, a Snowy owl, Nyctea laid on her hatchling. There were a dozen of different owls i the kingdom. Nyctea's feathers were all ruffled by her only son. She gasped when a beak bit her one of her talons. "Lent!" Nyctea scolded," You must show a bit of respect to your mum!" Lent scrambled farther in the cave of her wing, in the nest of twigs and rabbit-ear moss. The Snowy owl, now felt guilty, that she raised her voice to her owlet, when he was vulnerable to predators.

She nudged her little hatchling and tried to give her best vision contact to him, by showing that she was sorry. Then she heard a distant squeaking sound of a vole, from out the hollow. Nyctea knew that they hadn't had any food since Lent's previous birth. The Snowy owl checked to make sure her little owlet to, make sure he was okay, then glanced at the nest. The nest had been left unkempt for weeks, so she decided to find some new twigs and moss. First, she departed the twigs and moss from the resting area.

Nyctea sighed as she soon finished," Well, that's a bit better." She turned to Lent and order," You need to stay in this area, while I get us some prey. If you don't behave while I'm gone, I will not allow you to have the juiciest part of the prey. Understand?"  
She held her gaze for a few moments at her son, until he nodded blankly with closed eyes. The Snowy owl took off and scanned the ground for any sign of prey. "Great Glaux, this is more tough than raising an owlet." muttered Nyctea. She spotted a brown speck on the ground of snow. As she flew down with her talons held to the speck, she thought was a vole, it appeared to grow larger, and looked now to be a Burrowing owl. The Burrowing owl was digging out grubs, until he caught a glimpse of Nyctea.  
"What a lovely day to see you here, miss." spoke the Burrowing owl, Grumble," Been expecting to see an old friend." The Snowy owl lightly cocked her head and asked," What brings you here, Grumble?

"Ah...yes, you might have been wondering why I'm here." Grumble took a step one foot forward," I was sent here by King Soren, to give a message to the daughter of Boron and Barran."

"Go on, then." Starting to sound interested in the message, but annoyed by being called "daughter of Boron and Barran". So Grumble began," He said that the daughter of the late king and queen, should come to the Great Tree," Nyctea hesitated, then Grumble went on quickly," If she wishes to come."  
Nyctea was so irritated that she scowled," I won't go, Grumble! I have an owlet to take care of! He needs nourishment and-and..."  
"A place to sleep in," finished the Burrowing owl," Don't panic, Nyctea, the young'in could go with me to the Great Tree, to take your place." The Snowy owl reluctantly answered and Grumple smoothly asked," Is he old enough to fly?"Nyctea's only answer was "No" and explained," It's been a rough winter on both of us and he only was born a few weeks ago. So, his eyes are closed until tomorrow and he can't speak yet, either."  
Grumple stared thoughtfully," I can arrange that, plus I have the certain ryb, who can teach him, when he gets older. If he wants to do smithing, that is." Nyctea thought of the certain stories she had told him, and his favorite was of Eyzlryb, a Rogue Smith and a noble Guardian. She nodded," Yes, I can tell he would do well with being a Rogue Smith. But, who would his ryb be?"  
"It's an old friend, a Spores owl, by the name of Bubo." replied Grumble," Well, best to be on the the go then, can see twix time is coming up."

The Snowy owl turned her back on him and heard Grumble speak," Mind if I help you get some food for the young'in and yourself and some twigs and moss for the nest?"

Nyctea shrugged," Sure just make quick timing, so you can get back across the Sea of Hoolemere to the Great Tree."  
"Right! But I will have to stay at your hollow tonight, with the little feller. Well, lets get on then." grunted Grumble.


	2. Trip to Sea Of Hoolemere

Both Grumble and Nyctea both were done with getting food and supplies. It had taken them six hours to search and Nyctea was ready to go back to the tree. Although she had been a friend of this owl, she couldn't stop thinking about ever wanting to meet him again. Above all, he was just a Burrow Owl; they had become friends three years ago. She was not really fond of his features, like his legs. Burrow Owls were not the best flyers, but they were superb trackers.

The Snowy Owl was glad to have met her friend, since it was getting close to tween time. If Grumble wouldn't have been here she would've been searching longer. Nyctea silently thanked Glaux and both the owls went back to her home with the supplies. Both Snowy and Burrow landed beside the hollow and Grumble exclaimed," My! In all my days, I never would have been out in daylight. My eyes are burning." Nyctea agreed on the last statement, because owls were nocturnal; she hoped that Lent went to sleep without her ordering him to.

When they got in the nest, a little fuzz of tuffs came out. His mother quickly placed her owlet in the corner of the hollow. Grumble was taking it all in and said," Well, Nyctea. I suppose we should start constructing the nest for the little young'un. And might I say, this hollow really is kept tight!" Nyctea smiled and Lent looked at the Burrow Owl hard, so Nyctea scolded," Lent! I need you not to stare at our guest. He is not the right owl to be looked so unheartedly."

"Miss, it's okay if the lad takes a look at me. He needs to learn that there are mores types of owls in the world." Grumble said calmly and set the twigs and moss in center of the hollow. The little owlet came up to him and squeaked," Could I help?" Nyctea looked at him with tough concern and started to say something, but Grumble quickly put out:" Well, little one, you can. If it is okay with your mum, of course." Lent looked up hopefully at his mother and she sighed," Okay, little one, you can help with Grumble and me."

Lent was astounded to hear these words and went to work in between both his mother and Grumble. While working, the Burrow Owl constructed Lent to put each moss in between two twigs. This leisure fascinated Lent, so the little owl did exactly as the older owl said. Nyctea helped out with showing what her child had to fix; Lent did as his mother and the nest was completed. The last drop of the First Yellow was now dawning and Grumble stretched his tedious wings.

Lent looked at him and did exactly as what he did; Nyctea and Grumble chuckled, but soon Grumble said," Well, it was a pleasure helping you. It is time for both your son and I to go to the Great Tree." Lent was wide-eyed and exclaimed," Great Glaux! I get to go to a tree of the Guardians!" Grumble nodded in saying," You get to work beside the Guardians, but you need to train to be a smith. The tree has four chaws and you are to be in the Smith Chaw. It will be an excellent experience for a young'un like you."

The little owl was now pleased to hear this, for one of the best Guardians have been a Smith. So, Lent said," I am ready to be a Smith of the Great Tree of Ga'hoole." The Burrow Owl was now in a reluctant state and said," Lent- you will have to do training first to become a blacksmith. A smith will have to learn find skills in order to be one. You will be having a ryb, or teacher named Bubo. He is a great smith and you shall become an apprentice, when we get there."

"Okay, so can we go off then?" asked Lent impatiently. The Burrow Owl replied," Yes, my fine lad, we must go off till the first drop of the black sky comes! Then there shall be stars to navigate to get there." Lent's eyes sparkled like shooting stars and cried," I want to see those stars!" Grumple chuckled and flapped his wings, then suddenly his talons gently curved around the owlet's body. The Burrow Owl said," Don't squirm too much, my wings are not well-balanced." The owlet silently nodded his head and prepared for the trip to the Sea of Hoolemere.


	3. Crows!

The horizon was now more yellow than orange in the dawn sky. The Burrowing Owl's eyes were burning straight into his head. Lent was trying to get his best grip on the old owl's talons. For Grumble's foot was now getting a looser grip around the owlet. Lent could see that Grumble was becoming more tedious in the wings and really wanted to say something. Once they got near a tree and Grumble did not hover to the left-where the tree was.

Lent needed to rest, but he knew he had to stay awake, even though it was killing him to sleep. The little owlet guessed in his right mind that the journey would end. Oh, how splendid it would be to see the guardians of Ga'hoole and would beside them! He was not having the finest adventure an owl could have, but it was worth it.

Grumble tilted slightly, but really messed up: for Burrowing Owls were not the best fliers. Lent felt his body being tumbled all over the place, so he held tightly onto Grumble's feet. It seemed like a second had passed, when Lent was the first to catch a caw from three lengths away. The vulnerable owlet cowered far into safety of the grown owl's foot.

The Burrowing Owl was not really paying attention to what was near them; until it was to late. A crow banged into him and Grumble lost his balance. Lent was really scared that they would die, but instead the Burrowing Owl recovered and cried out," We need to get to the entrance of the sea before we get smashed into another crow!"

Lent looked around cautiously and heard several of these birds cawing from their right. The Snowy owlet didn't know what to do. So, he screeched," I see a bunch of them coming! We need to get out of here." When, he said this-two more crows were surrounding them-the little owlet was never scared in his life! Grumble made a valiant plunge on one of the crows' heads. The Burrowing Owl's punch was a shock to the crows that they went away.

Then the owl's wings locked together and he made Lent feel nauseous. Suddenly Grumble spread his wings and up they went. Now the crows were right behind them, and Lent wanted to _wilf_: for he was frightened. He thought that he was going to go to sleep, he would have day-mares from this event. It didn't take long, once he realized they had stopped at the entrance.

Grumble looked about and laid Lent gently on the ground; successfully, he scurried over beside the entrance and looked at the vast sea. He couldn't believe his eyes of seeing the clear, glittering water, but Grumble didn't really seem to care. In the Burrowing Owl's younger days, he had journeyed back and forth to the Sea of Hoolemere.

The Burrowing Owl's face was confused and furious because the Echidna was not here at all. The owlet didn't seem to mind of go across the Sea of Hoolemere. So, Grumble said," We must settle here for the day, until it the first drop of dusk comes." The owl and owlet found nothing to perch on, so they had to sleep in an uncomfortable fashion.

As tween time had come, the owlet rushed over to Grumble, who was still sleeping. Lent shook the owl and Grumble shook with a grand jerk. The owlet couldn't help but laugh and the Burrowing Owl let out a huff with annoyance. Then Grumble got up reluctantly and said," We must be on our way. I have a feeling we need to get there, just before twix time."

Grumble lifted his wings and Lent waited calmly for the owl to grab his body. However, this time he really felt numb and didn't feel the touch of the talons. By now he could hear the currents of the sea below him, plus it was so stupendous to feel droplets creeping up on him. Grumble was simply was flying nearly right on top of the waters! Guardians were taught how to do this, but Lent had never known they could.

Grumble shifted his wings to the left and stared constantly at what will lie ahead. The little owl looked up at him and then to where the tree would be right now. Later, Grumble tilted both wings strongly up and there came the forts of the tree itself. It was an amazing sight for Lent, because he knew very few owlets see the Great Tree. A barn owl with a very devilish, yet beautiful face came out. Grumble placed the owlet down and curtsied to him, so Lent did the same. He had never seen or heard of this owl before and thought it might be the king of the tree.

The Barn Owl looked at Grumble and said," This is Nyctea's son and the late Boron and Barran's grandson?"

"Yes, his mother told me to only bring him. It is really a much pleasure for the young'un to see you, King Coryn." Lent looked delightfully at King Coryn and was exceptionally astonished to have seen him first thing. The Barn Owl stared at Lent curiously and asked," You are from the Western Kingdoms, aren't you?" The owlet simply nodded and Coryn said," Well, I just hope you do a fine job as an apprentice for Bubo. He is certainly having multiple conversations about you. He can't stop babbling and it is making the others go blairn."

"Blairn? What is that supposed to mean?" asked Lent, for he never heard of the term before and though it must've been an ancient language. Then Coryn replied," It means crazy or out of one's mind, which is the term for yoicks."

"Why didn't you just say yoicks, instead?" For Lent was puzzled at hearing such a impossible term being used instead of the usual one. So, Coryn explained," Blairn, yoicks, and cag mag are all the same terms. I have learned such terms from a wolf too." The little owl was becoming much more excited than ever and said," I never heard of wolves before! Was this one nice?"

The Barn Owl nodded and said," You must meet your ryb, for he is the one who is going to teach you. Also, it is enough talking about my dear friend." Lent dropped the subject from his head and looked towards of seeing his teacher. He really wanted to learn the arts and techniques of materializing helmets, weapons, etc.


	4. Meeting

When King Coryn took Lent to where Bubo was; the little owlet could stop looking everywhere from inside and out from the tree. It was a marvelous wonder to meet an Eagle Owl in a the Great Tree of the guardians! There was lots of activities for the guardians in the trees. He had learned that there were seven chaws, or a squadron, in the tree and they were all unique.

Also, he had heard that when a guardian first comes to a tree, they were tapped with: so they would know which chaw they were in. Lent was really surprised of hearing the Chaw of Chaws were gifted owls from different squadrons. The ancient collier Screech Owl, Ezylryb, was really in charge of them all. One owl in particular was Coryn's uncle, then later he learned that the king has a young aunt, by the name of Eglantine.

The Snowy owlet kept looking from place to place and they stopped to a hollow. The hollow had several owls working busy as bumble bees. He eyed every owl and finally saw an Eagle Owl. Although there were some Eagle Owls in the tree, but Lent knew this was Bubo. The friendly old owl came up and said," This must be my new student and it is a pleasure to be working on a fine day as this."

"Yes, but I would like to have a word with you and Lent alone. It is going to have to deal with his training."

Bubo asked with wonder," Why will it have to be private? He isn't going to be tapped, I am for sure."

"Well, it is like that, but you need to watch out for stupendous questions from Lent. He is more strange than I am."

Lent was overhearing the conversation and gasped," Really! I am strange as you? I really want to find out about what is so wrong with you." Both Coryn and Bubo looked at him, then Bubo said solemnly to Coryn," I will straighten the little one's brain out. At least, I am not talking literal to the young'un." Which Coryn almost mistook, so he thought back to what he had said earlier and remembered what he had said.

The Barn Owl whispered," Come on, we must take our meeting in my hollow." So, the two guardians and the owlet went to Coryn's hollow. Bubo kept saying to Lent that he was always glad to have been in the Blacksmith chaw. He talked to the owlet about his younger days and the earlier wars. Also, he remembered making a very special battle claw, that most of the owls really wanted.

Lent really wanted to know more about a Blacksmith and how to make battle equipment. His thoughts were interrupted because they all stopped. Coryn took the two owls in and the little owlet was in a state of becoming energetic of seeing where his deceased grandparents' hollow. Bubo calmly said," I am sure that you are having a splendid time. For I almost forgot about my first day at the Great Tree of the Northern Kingdoms."

Coryn was now settled by the time they got in and said," We need to talk about your technique, Lent. It is not every moon, a very young owlet gets to come and train to be a guardian." Lent was astonished and Bubo explained," When Soren(King Coryn's uncle), Gylfie, Digger, and Twilight had first gotten here, both Soren and Gylfie were young owlets, but a little older than you."

"Who is Gylfie, Digger, and Twilight? Are they part of the Chaw of Chaws?" asked Lent. Coryn replied," Yes, they were rather the first to be the Chaw of Chaws, including my uncle."

"We must be start the training, I am really pumped to start my student in learning." Bubo began. Coryn stopped, then said, "Be sure to keep a close eye on this owlet, I keep thinking he will be tricky to handle." Bubo nodded without saying a word and Lent was having a dozen questions that he wanted to ask. They really kept sinking into his brain like angry mosquitoes. Once they were out of the king's hollow, Bubo was really getting tired of walking so he flapped his tedious wings. Lent was now behind him and he was going to have to start realizing he was still not old enough for branching.


	5. The Disappearance of Lent's Ryb

The Eagle Owl led the owlet very far from where they had the meeting with King Coryn. Lent began to wonder spontaneously on what the elderly owl was doing. By the time they got to a hollow, Bubo motioned for Lent to come in and the little owl hesitated. He was more reluctant to go in there for maybe the owls were the guardians' enemies.

As soon as they got in there, Lent saw four owls: a Barn Owl, an Elf Owl, a Burrowing Owl, and a Great Gray. He felt himself cower when he saw how they looked, for their feathers were ruffed up from numerous battles. Bubo greeted the four warmly and they all talked kindly. Soon they got to be in a great conversation of the glory days, even the Great Gray was speaking the most part on the battles he had been in. Lent heard many noble fights and one murder from him.

It was astonishing to hear a guardian talk about something as treacherous as murder. He felt his gizzard stir every time he heard the word murder. The Barn Owl, Soren was not as to keen on hearing the story of how his friend killed his older brother, Kludd. Gylfie scolded Twilight for being a ignorant scoundrel, for Lent guessed that both Gylfie and Soren both had adventures together. Then Soren came and greeted Lent. Also he said, " You might as well have to be a blacksmith because it is an honor of being with the guardians."

After that, Twilight greeted Lent with a bark and said," It is a privelage to make the finest weapons with a ryb like Bubo. Why I remember the time when he made the best battle claws..." Digger stared at Twilight hard and said," I might have to say in do respect that it was a best statement that they didn't allow you to wear them. I am very pleased to have made this comment." Twilight was now furious and he said out loud," And I say that I made a good impression on doing many battles with you, Digger."

The two owls were caught up in an arguement and Gylfie came up to him with a friendly greeting. Then she looked at both the two and said," Stop the blasphemous fighting. It causes no right to this young'un to be in the middle of it. I might as well say that it is really unnatural that you two should argue words that aren't fit for wiser owls."

Twilight and Digger both apologized quickly to one another and Lent was astonished that such a little owl could be tough as Twilight. So when that was over, Lent looked around to see where his new ryb was at. Though Bubo was no where in sight, Lent hobbled over to where his ryb had been. It was strange to Lent that Bubo would just leave like that.

Digger looked over to Lent and said," Hmm, strange. The Eagle Owl was here a moment ago. It should be blasphemous as that of Bubo to just leave." Twilight, Gylfie, and Soren looked to where Lent was and had the same exact question in their minds. Soren spoke up," I guess that Lent and I should go to the blacksmiths' forge and find where he is at."

Gylfie said," Yes, that would be splendid to go there. I will keep these two in shape and you lead the little one there." Both Soren and Gylfie made a slight nod and Soren told Lent to follow him. Soren was not flying as Bubo did, but was being fair to Lent since he couldn't fly yet. The two owls came upon the same hollow of where Lent knew the blacksmiths work in.

As soon as they went in, the forge looked empty. Soren and Lent looked at one another and sent a silent message saying " Weird". Lent wandered through every column down every row and found nothing, not even a feather. The Barn Owl said," You might have to search for Grumble to see where Bubo is at. I will check with Coryn on the whereabouts." He soon left and Lent tripped to get to the opening with his helpless legs.

He was beginning to feel lost when he kept thinking of his trip to the Great Tree. Lent's memories were now slipping away when he looked every hollow. Finally as he gotten to one hollow, he heard three voices and slightly slipped in. He saw Grumble, a Pygmy Owl named Turk, and a female Barn Owl named Pellimore. Turk was shaking all over and said," You would never want to have seen what we saw. It is more worse than the wolves of the Outermost."

Grumble looked at Pellimore for answers, but she didn't want to say anything. Lent guessed that Pellimore and Turk were slipgizzles of the tree. It was natural for guardians to spy on a strange ongoing. So, Grumble asked Turk who was getting more jittery by the moment," Who would be worse than the outclanners?" Without a word, Turk fainted and Grumble turned to Pellimore.

Lent saw that she was worried to speak up. Somehow, Pellimore breathed slowly and replied," The Pure Ones." The Burrowing Owl was shocked and murmured," The Pure Ones? How can this be so? I thought that we finished of the Pure Ones."

"No, Grumble. Turk and I have seen the Pure Ones near St. Aggie's. It was more horrible to see to see that conniving brute, Nyra. She is now the leader of the Pure Ones and I am afraid we should get ready for battle."

"Thank you, Pellimore. I am glad you have told me this." said Grumble sadly. But the Barn Owl was not finish for she went on," I heard what she said. She told the others that they were to steal the ember of Hoole."

Once again, Grumble was awe-strucked and said," What? The Watch wolves are protecting that gem. It is not easy to steal an ember from such wolves. Both of you should go tell Coryn at once and tell him to round up every guardian." The Barn Owl woke the passed out Pygmy and they both flew to where the king was. Grumble was panicking that he didn't know that Lent was right in front of him. In a few minutes, Grumble was now beginning to calm.

Lent asked," Grumble? Are we going to have war with the Pure Ones." Grumble sighed then replied," Yes, young'un, it is nearing war. You will have to work beside Bubo to get the weapons ready." Lent's gizzard jolted and he said," I can't find my ryb. Have you seen him?" The only reply came was "No".


End file.
